music

Worship Ministry

Designed to Gladden the Heart and Stir the Soul.

As a Saint Luke’s chorister, your ministry is to inspire and lead the congregation in song. Regardless of age or experience, singing with one of our choirs is a joy and an opportunity to grow musically and spiritually. For children, choir teaches not only music literacy, but teamwork, confidence and commitment.

A Music and Vestment fee of $60 is asked per child to help supply new music and the cleaning and maintenance of choir robes. Checks may be made to Saint Luke’s with “Friends of Music” in the memo line.

*Choir families are asked to be present, on a schedule rotating basis, as a second adult on scheduled dates during practices and services for the program year. As mandated by the Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut, anyone serving in this capacity, including caregivers, is required to authorize Saint Luke's to conduct a background check. A check is not necessary if already performed for another ministry at Saint Luke's. Unless specifically requested not to, Saint Luke's may use photographs of the choir in church publications and publicity.

Friends of Music

The mission of the Friends of Music at Saint Luke’s Parish is to continually support our choirs and allow them to sharetheir gifts both within and beyond our walls. Our vision is that Saint Luke’s becomes a center for excellent and inspiringmusical offerings in Darien, with a reputation that stretches far beyond.

Your donation to the Friends of Music will help maintain and improve our music program on an ongoing basis. We alsohave a permanent Music Endowment Fund which we hope to grow over the years to come. If you believe that music is vitalto the quality and character of worship at Saint Luke’s Parish and is a gift to be shared with the larger community,you can help make that vision a reality. Be a Friend and make a donation.

Donations may be made by check made out to “Saint Luke’s Parish” with the notation “Friends of Music,” or you may contactRon Wilson, Director of Finance & Administration at 203-655-1456 or Ron.Wilson@saintlukesdarien.org.

(Rev. Dr.) Donald Thompson is a retired university professor/administrator who taught theology, ethics and religious studies in higher education in Canada. He holds graduate degrees from Harvard and Mc Gill universities. Throughout his career in higher education he has always maintained active involvement in parish ministry, particularly in education and social responsibility.

He and his wife Susan live in Norwalk, where both have been involved in Norwalk Community College. Don has been teaching ethics courses exploring human good, sustainability, awareness and choices in their Lifetime Learners program. He is active in the St. Luke’s seniors thinking group. He assists in the worship life at St. Luke’s when called upon.

Susan Wyper

The Rev. Susan Wyper joined the Saint Luke’s clergy staff as Associate Rector in September, after nine years at St. Matthew’s in Bedford, NY. While serving “across the border,” Susan and her family continued to consider Saint Luke’s their parish home and she is happy to return to the church that raised her family and supported her call to ministry.

Susan holds degrees from Yale University, Middlebury College and Berkeley Divinity School. She and her husband George have lived in Darien since 1987 and been actively involved in the church and wider community. They have three sons, James, Robby & Silas.

Dawn Stegelmann

Dawn Stegelmann has been an Associate Rector at Saint Luke’s since 2015. Serving in a part-time capacity, Dawn leads small groups throughout the year and supports a variety of outreach initiatives and ministries. She loves pastoral care work in all life stages and participating in the worship cycle of the church year. Dawn also is an adjunct professor at General Theological Seminary in New York City where she teaches creative spiritual practices and supervision courses through the Center for Christian Spirituality. Ordained in 2008, Dawn was the Associate Rector of Trinity, Southport for seven years.

Dawn first moved to Darien and joined Saint Luke’s as a parishioner in 1990 with her young and growing family. She was active in many ministries and served on the Vestry and as a Junior Warden before being called to the priesthood. She received her Master of Divinity from Berkeley Divinity School at Yale and a Master in Sacred Theology from General Theological Seminary. Dawn is interested in the crossroads of spirituality, neuroscience and psychology. She has three boys who still consider Saint Luke’s their spiritual home.

Daniel Lennox

The Rev. Daniel Lennox is the Associate Rector for Spiritual Formation. Danny and his wife, Abigail (who sings in the choir), their two children, Grete and Des arrived at Saint Luke’s in June, 2015. Danny oversees the spiritual formation of the parish, including working with children, youth and adults in their faith journey. In addition, Danny assists the rector with pastoral care, worship, preaching, and tasks related to parish-building. He holds degrees from McGill, Yale and Boston University, and he has served Episcopal churches in Alexandria, Bedford and Hoboken.

David Anderson

David Anderson began his ministry at Saint Luke’s, coming here fresh out of seminary in 1989 as Associate Rector. In 1992 he left to lead a church in Pennsylvania and returned to Saint Luke’s eleven years later, in 2003, to become Rector. David’s ministry includes leading the clergy, staff and Vestry in pursuing our vision—Grow personally in faith; Build an accepting community; and Work alongside our neighbors to serve the world. He loves preaching, teaching and writing, helping people to connect with their inner, spiritual lives in a busy, distracting world. He is the author of “Breakfast Epiphanies” (Beacon Press, 2002), writes a regular column for “The Good News,” the newspaper for the Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut, and is working on a book on faith after midlife. David is married to Pam, a cookbook author and food blogger who offers a lot of hospitality to the Saint Luke’s family. They have two daughters: Maggy, who lives with her husband Andy in Manhattan; and Sharon, who is a student at Yale Divinity School. And two cats.